Hello. Besides the hot temps in the summer, what are the pros/cons of living in Phx? My husband and I might be relocating for his job. We have been to the area a few times in the winter. I'm a native Texan. My hubby is from MN. Both of us have lived in Texas most of our life. We live in WA State now. Am tired of the cold rainy days and 2-3 months of sunny days. We are planning a short trip in July to see if we can take the heat. What is the good/bad? Thanks.

Hello again. Does anyone live in the Ahwatukee/Foothills or Chander area? How do you like it? Thanks.

My sister just moved out there, I've visited several times. Yuck. The traffic is horrible, it looks like urban CA with the endless pavement separated by mega-malls, and the weather is hot (above 100 most of the summer) and dry and dusty. There is development everywhere. If you move there, I'd try for the hills if at all possible.

Before I get bashed, I will say I love the rest of AZ, go there often, it's just the past 10-15 yrs of out of control development that's been visited on Phoenix that's awful.

My sons are there (although leaving to return to the Pac NW). I call it "L.A. in the Desert".

If they weren't there, I'd stay very far away from Phx. I know there are folks who are likely quite fond of it, but it is crowded and unattractive to me. Just my opinion of course. Having grown up in L.A. and seeing Phx almost duplicate it, I think therein lies the reason for my distaste of the area. If you are seriously considering it, you should spend some lengthy time there in the summer. That is the major reason why my sons will not stay again this summer as they prefer to be outdoors and summer in Phoenix is spent in air conditioned comfort

The above posters are 100% right on. Phoenix is LA South West. UGLY. It's all freeways, stip malls and cactus.

Curious

Have you considered North Scottsdale?

I have afriend who moved recently from Houston to Phoenix.he puts it this way: The rays of sun/heat in Phoenix are like the Eyes of Texas: You cannot escape them....

The Pro's...Nothing!
The Con's...Everything!

It is a concrete wasteland and it is only going to get hotter and smoggier and uglier..
It used to be a really neat town about 15 years ago but the developers have basically ruined it..
I would look at other areas of Arizona which by the way are gorgeous..
Prescott is about an hour away from Phoenix or Tucson... prices are dropping big time in AZ because of the investment speculation and it isn't that cheap anymore to move there...wait about 6-12 months and if you want to get a steal of a deal then I would purchase but go to the outskirts of Phoenix like Gold Canyon, Queen Creek etc..
Good Luck to you!

I lived in the Phoenix area until 1993 (went to ASU) then moved to Portland and have been here since. Ahwatukee was the last place I lived; back then it was still not overgrown, believe it or not. The new business/retail developments at 48th and Ray and 48th/Warner were just being built - mostly barren. I couldn't believe the difference from the time I moved in 1993 to my last visit in 97; I can't imagine it today. It must be overgrown.

I can't say I have ever missed Phoenix much, except for certain days when it's been cold in Portland and I could just use a sunny day (not too often). I've not even felt the need to visit in almost ten years. It was kind of miles of concrete grid, new developments and strip malls everywhere - could only be worse now.

The heat was actually not the worst part of living in Phoenix. Believe it or not, I got used to the heat every spring after a few weeks of it - you just go from air conditioned home to air conditioned car to air conditioned office and put up with getting sweaty in between. And in July and August, when it stays above 100 even at night, you just don't go outside much or plan to do much outdoors like you can in Oregon and Washington. Believe it or not, after many years of living in Portland, I did eventually get used to the rain and mostly love it now.

Andrew

Please keep the "con" remarks coming. I believe Portland ws able to keep their population growth down by emphasizing the rain and gloominess.
Damn this heat, congestion, dryness, brown arid wasteland. What on earth causes people to move here????

Ah yes, giro....We need to local each other here in this hellhole and drink a toast to all the good folks that have the sense to live somewhere else. The grass just has to be greener there. If I only had 1 or 2 more million I would get out of this wasteland myself and go to, ummm:-?, maybe Fountain Hills, North Scottsdale or Biltmore Estates8-)

I'm from washington and had to come to AZ for school (scholarship I couldn't pass up) I HATE it, and count down the days until I can move back to Seattle.
The summers are horrible unless you like sitting inside all day.
July will be hot but imagine what it will be like when its months and months of that kind of heat. A short trip will be enjoyable, anything more is unfortunate.
There are some interesting places, but I would rather just visit for small lenths of time. The heat zaps all energy and I am young!
I lived in N. Scottsdale, then Tempe. I have many friends that live in the Chandler and Ahwatukee area, both have nice areas, and everything is convenient to a local strip mall (many).

rms882, yes, you are young, but you are acclimatized to the dark, gloomy, cold, wet northwest. Remember that more than 3 1/2 million people call metropolitan Phoenix home and do just fine. I for one cannot tolerate the northwest US for more than 1-2 weeks at a time, and then only rarely. Oh well, what ever mildews your toes....
8-)

BTW, is there any law against punching out Goofy?:-? NO? Gooood!

I did my 4 year hitch in lower scottsdale.
You can have it. Spring training is the only thing to go back for, as there is nothing there but endless people driving to endless malls in their endless cars. For some, it's the good life; for me it's like the most boring parts of LA with no Ocean.
The prime motivation for Phoenix exisiting seems to be to drain the upper midwest of it's old folks and to continue to grow like a cancer, destroying precious desert to make it look like Illinois.

giro and jamaltay, you sound like me!! I live in Vegas and it seems as though whenever we go on vacation people ask "so, where are you from", we say "Las Vegas" and the typical reply is "oh, really, we are thinking of moving there" and we say "oh, you don't want to move there, blah, blah". At least that is how it used to go about 5-10 years ago, I don't think anyone really listened because they still keep coming!! I feel your pain!!

I used to live in San Antonio. If you can take the heat and humidity in south Texas you can take the heat in Phx.

But here's the kicker. Phx has TERRIBLE air quality. They have days when you are told to stay indoors if you have health problems. My parents sold their winter home in Phx because the bad air forced them out. Snow birds are making a mass exodus. If you don't mind living in a upscale luxury snow bird park you can get a steal on a buitiful full size "park model" trailer. I know because I sold my parent's trailer in Phx on the internet. Now they stay year round in MN in the clean air.

Wow...I disagree with a lot of these posts. First of all, to truly appreciate desert living you have to actually live there. You can't visit the desert and gain an immediate appreciation for it. When visitors visit desert communities, they see "brown". When I lived in Phoenix/Scottsdale, I saw nothing but color! Pros: at least 8 months of the most perfect weather you'd ever be in. Sedona, GC, Vegas, Mexico, San Diego all at your fingertips. Short cheap flights to worldclass skiing in Utah and New Mexico. Affordable cost of living. Cons: 3 months of dry heat. Laugh it off, but it is a pleasure to be hiking in 90 degrees and not sweat. I'd take 110 in Arizona over 90 degrees in Georgia any day of the week. Air quality? Someone name a valley city in the west that doesn't have air quality problems? There is much more to AZ than strip malls, and anyone who says that has never really explored Arizona. I say....lucky you! Enjoy your move!

Sure, there's lots more to AZ than strip malls--but OP was talking specifically about Phoenix. Bad air, bad traffic, land being covered by cement/buildings hourly, illegal immigration tensions, water shortage looming, unchecked growth, air conditioning needed to live and all that implies in energy costs and venting more hot air to the outdoors. Those are some of the cons...the pros? It's Arizona!

It's Undocumented immigrants if you don't mind!
Tension? Not any more than anywhere else and probably a lot less because when you have interaction with people you see them as people and not as "illegals"...as some would say...